European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday april 1, 1991the stars and stripes Page 3 in the Gulf is question value of cease fire roles in a said capt. Luis d doctor from per Lere to do a checkpoint Bravo Iraq apr at this Dusty checkpoint . Army doctors deliver babies and sew. Up wounded from the Iraq civil War. / r . Soldiers who blasted through Republican guard now Hunt bandits., preying on the tide of refugees. A a a a a a. The army a flexibility is impressive but to Many . Soldiers it Means something else. It might be time to go Home. A a a in a Happy that in a helping peo Rodriguez Betancourt a 30-year-o to Rico. A but is this what we came during. The War Betancourt saw two americans wounded. At Bravo he a delivered two babies and treated hundreds of iraqi wounded in that nations civil War. He a also making sandals for babies out of Moleskin and shoestrings. In Kuwait City . Army lawyers who were sup pos a to investigate and prosecute War crimes now spend a lot of their time advising american soldiers on Legal matters. Soldiers from civil affairs units meanwhile train kuwaiti police. In several cases they be been caught in shootouts Between kuwaiti Security forces and mysterious gunmen. \ some officers say their men were worried about at Quot tacks from angry palestinians who have been beaten by kuwaitis for allegedly collaborating with iraqis occupying army. A we done to want to get involved in this political stuff but if we continue to stay Here it la get More difficult every Day a said it. Jeff Robshaw 24, a civil affairs. Officer., just hoping they sign the. Peace treaty and we can All go Home throughout Kuwait and occupied Iraq the first question on the lips of every Soldier Pilot or tank gunner is a a whats up with the treaty a few answers Are available. The United nations be county Council is working on a permanent cease fire Resolution. It could be at least one week away. After that there a no telling How Long . Soldiers will be in the Gulf. V. Just outside Safwan Iraq at checkpoint Charlie warrant officer Roscoe Shepherd 37, tosses a softball to a fellow Soldier. A a we re really done with our Job out Here a he said. A any longer and its like we re just sitting ducks. They said win the War and go Home. Well we won it so lets get he recalled the deaths of More than 250 . Marines in a suicide truck bomb attack on the . Embassy in Beirut in october 1983. A a it a be a Damn shame if that happened now a he said a a a a a a . Soldiers stationed at checkpoint Bravo a Dusty tank infested pit Stop about 50 Miles Northwest of Kuwait were blasting through the Republican guard More than a month ago driving into Iraq at the head of the 1st Abmd div. Capt. Charley Ard commanded a company a Ficarri As her Mother watches a 1st Arneri div medic treats an iraqi girls injured Eye on saturday at checkpoint Bravo. Soldiers say they Are worried about what will happen to the refugees when they withdraw from Iraq. A these people could be abandoned a said battalion commander it. Col. Stephen Smith. A there does no to seem to be a great Deal of interest in the International some of his military police have arrested five bandits but he does no to know whether prosecution will be Possi a gunner on one of Ards tanks Chi. Dean Brown spent the 100-hour ground War against Iraq destroying four tanks and three armoured Quot personnel carriers from his seat in an m1a1 Abrams tank. On saturday he persuaded an iraqi woman to drink water out of a water Tanker by first taking a sip himself. A you sit Here and watch cars coming through with coffins on top a Brown said. A it really brings Home the reality of it a. Rev of men that destroyed 15 iraqi armoured personnel carriers and assorted trucks and vehicles. Now Ard 28, and his men Are handing out food and water to thousands of iraqis running from Saddam Hussein a bloody crackdown on the rebellion in Southern Iraq. A a a a a a v a a a. A a a a \. A a a a a a a a a a. A. A. A a so far More than 35,000 iraqi civilians and another 1,700 iraqi pos have passed through Ards checkpoint. Many of them Are hungry. Some Are wounded. All Are afraid. A this is by far More emotionally demanding than the War was a Ard said. A we did most of our killing at 3,000 meters or almost two Miles. But this this brings the whole conflict up close and of offences in Gulf incredibly Low by Tracy Wilkinson Tholos Angeles times Riyadh saudi Arabia a an airman steals drugs from a flight surgeon. A Marine shoots himself in the leg to avoid duty. A sergeant Falls asleep on guard. In the seven months since half a million . To Dps were dispatched to saudi Arabia More than 3,500 american service personnel have been punished for a wide Range of offences a from minor infractions such As showing disrespect to the More serious like negligent homicide. A a a a the numbers Are preliminary and expected to grow. Even so military officers contend that the caseload is remarkably Low Given the size of the american Force and the fact that past conflicts such As Panama and Vietnam were marred by serious abuses committed by servicemen. Of 3,506 cases of wrongdoing during operation desert storm and its predecessor desert shield Only 191 resulted in courts martial. Just 18 of those were in the most serious category general courts martial according to figures provided by the . Central come. A the phenomenal thing about this operation has been the exceptionally Jow level of acts of indiscipline a said col. Raymond c. Ruppert the Central Comdr judge advocate general. A a Quot a the number of offences that have been committed Are incredibly Low a Ruppert said. In fiscal year 1989, a time of peace 71 courts martial per 10,000 troops were recorded compared with 3 v2 per 10,000 troops participating in the persian Gulf War according to the Central come. The Factor keeping the men and women in line that is cited most frequently by most officers is the absence of alcohol in this Muslim country. All alcoholic beverages Are prohibited. Some Gas a have been known to brew their own from grape juice or have received bottles smuggled in through the mail and Bootleg liquor has figured in some of the infractions. But military officials say that alcohol and other drugs rive been largely unavailable. A i Tell you no drinking solved a whole lot of problems a said it. Gen. Peter de la Billie re commander of the British forces Here echoing throughout the Allied leadership. Secondly Many units of the american forces spent most of their time in the isolation of the desolate saudi desert away from temptations and away from much of the civilian population. Both the forced abstinence and the distance from local communities pose Sharp _ contrast to the circumstances of the Vietnam War. There drug abuse was a serious problem. Troops had frequent sometimes hostile Contact with vietnamese in both Saigon and the Countryside. . Central come leaders also say that the Force that fought the Gulf War is More mature better trained and educated a thus better disciplined than the soldiers who were sent to Vietnam. Most violations of military Law during the Gulf War and the months leading up to it were minor infraction is tha it did not require a court martial in these cases the Soldier accepted his or her punishment which could Range from a letter of reprimand to the Docking of pay or loss of a Stripe or More. No judicial proceed of Ings were involved. F the More serious crimes results in a court partial under rules Laid out by the uniform code of military Justice. Punishment can be severe. An army sergeant pleaded guilty to stealing a pistol. He was Given a bad con a duct discharge and sentenced to three years in Leavenworth prison. Two sailors aboard an aircraft Carrier were found guilty of drug Possession. One was sentenced to three years in jail the other six years. Two soldiers who stole mail were sentenced to jail for 12 to 15 months respectively. An airman working at a base in saudi Arabia was convicted of stealing drugs from a flight surgeon and ordered to serve 10 years in prison. He was also Given a dishonourable discharge. A Marine who shot himself in the leg to avoid duty was sentenced to eight years at hard labor. A Marine from the 1st Marine div which participated in the March on Kuwait City was convicted of negligent homicide thrown out of the military and sentenced to 10 months at hard labor. Further details of the Cas were not available but Ruppert the judge advocate general said that it and a handful of other pending negligent homicide courts martial probably involved traffic accidents or the improper firing of weapons. Ruppert said that he has not received any reports of abuse of iraqi prisoners of War by any american service member nor was he aware of any cases of the More serious crimes that haunted Vietnam and Panama such As rape and murder. A the military in the Gulf would not have been Able to do it maintain strict discipline if this had been the army of Vietnam a said a Western Diplomat in Riyadh the saudi capital
